Virtual+Construction+Simulator+Project

=Virtual Construction Simulator:= //Improving Design and Construction Engineering Education with Virtual Reality// toc Research Project

Participants
John Messner (PI), David Riley (co-PI), Michael Horman (co-PI), George Otto, Lingyun 'Grace' Wang, Shrimant Jaruhar, Alex Zolotov

Sponsor
The National Science Foundation: Engineering Education Division

Research Summary
The ability to visualize the built environment is a critical skill required by design and construction engineering students. Students in Civil and Architectural Engineering programs typically learn to analyze project designs and plan their construction by reviewing 2D CAD drawings and developing Critical Path Method (CPM) schedules. With recent advancements in computer display technology, it is now possible to place our students within a large-scale, immersive projection display that allows them to experience and experiment with a 3D, full-scale virtual prototype of a construction project. This advanced visual communication can significantly improve the ability of students to comprehend, learn, and gain experience with reviewing designs for constructability and planning the construction of complex building and infrastructure projects. The immersive models will also help students improve their visualization skills so that they will be more prepared to interpret and visualize 2D drawings in 3D.

The **//goal//** of this project is **// to improve engineering education in building and infrastructure design and construction through the use of interactive construction project learning modules in an immersive virtual reality environment .//** We will achieve this goal through the development of a Virtual Construction Simulator (VCS) that will allow students to immerse themselves into a 3D construction project, perform a detailed analysis of the design, and develop a plan for constructing the project. The construction plan will include construction methods selection, activity sequencing, activity duration definition, temporary facility locations, and project schedule calculation. After the students complete their design analysis and construction planning exercise, they will be able to review the results and present them to their peers and instructors.

To date, 4D Computer Aided Design (CAD) modeling (3D CAD with schedule time as the 4th dimension) on desktop computer monitors has been implemented successfully in the undergraduate curriculum in Architectural Engineering at Penn State. This proposed project will expand the use of graphical construction simulation technology to allow students to be immersed within a virtual construction project and experiment with different construction methods and activity sequences. Previous experiments in a large immersive projection display at Penn State have shown that students can quickly understand complex virtual building models and gain experience from planning the construction of these virtual projects. Students are engaged by working in the immersive environment where they can learn and, due to the rich visual environment, develop a detailed understanding of complex design and construction decision processes. In addition to providing a rich learning environment for students, this project will also advance the current status of research in the generation of 4D CAD models in immersive VR displays.

The use of the VCS will make an immediate impact on the quality of engineering education at Penn State in Architectural Engineering and Civil Engineering. The **broad impacts** of this project will be fourfold. First, it will **enrich the education of engineers who design and construct infrastructure and building projects**. This will improve the efficiency, safety and security of future building projects nationwide. Second, it will demonstrate the VCS and case study projects in a low cost VR display. These **tools will be** **made available to other universities** so that more students and faculty can use the learning modules developed in this proposed project and share new case studies developed from the project templates. Third, this project will **add to the research on the pedagogical value of using active learning exercises in an immersed VR environment** through a detailed assessment of the impact of selected case study projects on our learning objectives. Finally, the improved visualization capability development and engaging learning environment should **improve the attraction and retention of top caliber students to engineering disciplines**. This is of particular interest when considering potential female engineering students since previous studies have shown that female students on average do not perform as well on visual and spatial reasoning tests when they enter college. Therefore, improved visual teaching methods should improve the attraction and retention of potential women students to design and construction engineering disciplines. This project will provide a model for future VR engineering education applications by clearly showing the educational value and preferred methods for applying these advanced visualization tools.

Products Developed
VCS (2006) VCS2 (2007) VCS3 (2011) VCS3 (2013)

Acknowledgments
Add acknowledgments if appropriate.